Sebastien Ogier produced a faultless performance to claim two stage wins at Rally Australia’s showpiece Destination NSW Super Special.
The Volkswagen driver continued his impressive afternoon display by winning both runs through the 1.27km stage held on the picturesque Coffs Harbour coastline.
Ogier took a further 1.4s out of team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen’s rally advantage which now stands at 15.4s.
The four-time world champion edged Mikkelsen by 0.5s on the first run through the arena stage, which features a banked berm corner and a spectacular beachside jump.
Volkswagen swept the top three positions with Jari-Matti Latvala third while Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville was fourth just 1.5s adrift of Ogier.
Ogier dominated the second run in front of a packed crowd to take victory from New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon.
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Paddon was 0.8s slower than the Frenchman while Neuville finished the stage in third ahead of Mikkelsen and Lorenzo Bertelli, who took a wrong turn on his first run through the test.
In the overall rally standings, Neuville continues to hold third with a 1.2s advantage over Hyundai team-mate Paddon. Mads Ostberg remains the top M-Sport Ford runner in fifth.
In the Australian Rally Championship, Justin Hatton topped the times in both runs, while Simon Evans (Subaru) extended his overall lead to 38.4s from Harry Bates (Toyota).
Bates, however, maintained his top Aussie tag in the overall WRC rally rankings, ending the day in 14th overall with Molly Taylor just one position further back.
The field will tackle another 135.19kms of stages on Saturday featuring two runs through the famous 50.80km Nambucca stage.
Two more passes of the Destination NSW Super Special will conclude Saturday’s leg.
Result: Kennards Hire Rally Australia after Stage 11
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